The last time the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills met was Week 17, a game that would start but eventually be canceled after Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who has since returned to the Buffalo’s practice facility and is taking it “one baby step at a time, “collapsed on the field. This rematch — with a trip to the AFC Championship Game on the line — features two of the league’s most talented quarterbacks in Joe Burrow and Josh Allen, with both having a bevy of explosive teammates around them.
The Athletic has you covered on this AFC divisional-round matchup:
How to watch
The game is on Sunday, Jan. 22 at 3 pm ET at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, NY
- TV: CBS
- Streaming: NFL+, Paramount+
Follow The Athletic‘s live updates from Bengals-Bills.
Odds
Spread
Moneyline
- Bengals: +200
- Bills: -250
Odds are via BetMGM.
The series
Sunday marks the 33rd matchup between the Bengals and Bills, with Buffalo holding a slight edge, 17-15. The most recently completed game in the series was a 21-17 Bills win on Sept. 22, 2019, the season before the Bengals drafted Burrow with the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Buffalo also owns the longest winning streak in the series, with 10 consecutive victories from Nov. 26, 1989, to Nov. 21, 2010. However, Cincinnati has won both of the postseason matchups, prevailing in the divisional round in the 1981 season and the AFC Championship Game in the 1988 season.
GO DEEPER
22 Bills thoughts and a prediction ahead of Sunday’s showdown vs. Bengals
The matchup
All eyes will be on the quarterback battle here. Burrow threw for 4,475 yards and 35 passing touchdowns (both career highs), while rushing for 257 yards and five touchdowns during the regular season.
Allen had an impressive regular season, too. The fifth-year quarterback threw for 4,283 passing yards and 35 touchdowns, adding 762 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.
Additionally, both signal callers have explosive wide receivers. Allen’s receiving corps includes Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis and Dawson Knox. Burrow’s trio consists of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. Both teams are in the top seven in points per game — the Bills are second with 28.8, while Cincinnati ranks seventh with 26.
The Bengals enter the game on a nine-game winning streak, while the Bills have won eight consecutive games.
GO DEEPER
Dehner Jr.: The one factor I can’t shake in predicting Bengals vs. Bills
Players to watch
Diggs was the only Buffalo player to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark, as he has in each of his last five seasons. The eight-year veteran tallied 1,429 receiving yards and a career-high 11 receiving touchdowns. Linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano are defensive anchors for the Bills, leading the team in regular-season total tackles with 102 and 99 respectively. Milano also racked up three interceptions, the second-most on the team behind safety Jordan Poyer.
Both Chase and Higgins topped 1,000 receiving yards during the regular season. Chase caught a team-high nine receiving touchdowns, totaling 1,046 yards in just 12 games. Higgins brought in 1,029 receiving yards and a career-high seven receiving touchdowns. Defensively, safeties Jessie Bates III and Vonn Bell paced the Bengals with four interceptions apiece. Linebacker Logan Wilson was the only player on the team to notch 100 total tackles, ending the regular season with 123.
GO DEEPER
Sam Hubbard and Joe Burrow: The friendship at the core of the Bengals’ renaissance
The coaches
Buffalo coach Sean McDermott is 4-4 in eight playoff games. His most successful postseason run came in 2020-21 when the Bills lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship. Zac Taylor is in his fourth season at the helm with Cincinnati. Taylor boasts a 4-1 playoff record, with three of those four wins coming last postseason en route to the Bengals’ Super Bowl loss.
Key injuries
Bengals
Out: G Alex Cappa (ankle), T Jonah Williams (knee)
Doubtful: CB Tre Flowers (hamstring)
Bills
Questionable: DT DaQuan Jones (calf), DE Jordan Phillips (shoulder)
Required reading
(Photo: Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
.